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Pakistan’s in-form opener Mohammad Rizwan broke T20 legend Chris Gayle’s T20 record of most runs in a calendar year. During his short stay at the crease against Scotland, Rizwan’s 15-run knock helped him get past Gayle’s tally of 1,665 runs in 2015. Before the match, he needed just five runs to get the record in his name. The wicketkeeper-batter now has 1,676 runs from 38 innings including one century and 15 half-centuries.
It is to be noted that the T20 record includes international games, franchise cricket and domestic tournaments. Gayle’s 1,665 runs came from 36 innings at an average of 59.46 including three centuries and two half-centuries.
Another feat in sights
Earlier Rizwan also got the record of most T20I runs in a calendar year going past Ireland’s Paul Stirling’s record of 2019 when he scored 748 runs from 20 innings. The Peshawar-born cricketer now has 957 runs from 19 T20I innings with eyes set on breaching the 1,000-run mark in the upcoming knockout games of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.
On the list of most T20 runs in a calendar year, Rizwan and Gayle are followed by Indian skipper Virat Kohli, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and former South African cricketer AB de Villiers. Kohli scored 1,614 runs in 2016 which included 973 runs in a single Indian Premier League (IPL) season when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) reached the final.
Babar in the race too
Rizwan’s opening partner is also in contention of getting past a few of these names. He had 1,561 runs from 35 innings before the Scotland clash including two centuries and 16 half-centuries. He also went past Stirling to grab the second spot for most runs in T20 cricket.
